Apparatus for conditioning parts of shoes



Oct'. 25, 1932. G. HAZELTON ET AL APPARATU FOR CONDITIONING PARTS OFSHOES Filed Nov. 11, 1930 Patented Oct. 25, 1932 UNITED STATES PATENTFFICE GEORGE HAZELTON AND THOMAS BAGGOTT CLARKE, OF LEICESTER, ENGLAND,ASSIGN- ORS TO UNITED SHOE MACHINERY CORPORATION, OF PATEBSON, NEWJERSEY, A

CORPORATION OF NEW JERSEY APPARATUS FOR CONDITIONING PARTS OF SHOESApplication filed November 11, 1930, Serial No. 494,941,' and in GreatBritain January 3, 1930.

This invention relates to apparatus for conditioning parts of shoes andis herein disclosed as embodied in an apparatus adapted to conditionunlayed breast-flaps of Louisheeled shoes in accordance with a methoddescribed in a copending joint application of Gouldbourn and Hazelton,Serial No. 418,372, filed January 3, 1930.

According to the method referred to above, one or both of thecomplemental attaching faces of a breast-flap and the heel of aLouisheeled shoe are coated with a soluble adhesive substance that ispermitted to dry or set on the part or parts before the parts areassembled. Preferably, both of the complemental attaching faces are socoated, although it is within the scope of the invention set forth inthat application to coat only one of them, but in either case the methodreferred to consists, in part, in reviving the tacky condition of theadhesive substance, by a suitable solvent, at that stage in themanufacture of a shoe when the attached heel is ready to have thebreast-flap secured thereto. The method also provides for tempering thegrain surface of the breastflap with hot moist vapor whereby the flapwill be rendered so pliable that it may be readily conformed to thecurvatures of the breast-face of the heel and will be thereby deprived,to a great extent, of whatever tendency it might otherwise have tospring away from the breast of the heel after removal of the pressure bywhich it is so conformed.

An object of the present invention is to provide improved apparatus withwhich to temper a breast-fiap and to revive the tacky condition of adried adhesive that may have been used to coat the breast-flap or thebreastface of the heel or both, as explained above, to the end that thepractice of the method referred to may be facilitated.

To this end, a feature of the present invention consists in an apparatuscomprising means constructed and arranged to support a Louis-heeled shoeso that an unlayed breastflap thereof may hang without being supportedotherwise than by the shoe, and means arranged to supply a conditioningfluid to the attaching face of the breast-flap and to the breast of theheel.

To avoid the necessity of supplying two different kinds of treatingfluid, one to revive the tacky condition of the adhesive substance andthe other to temper the grain surface of the breast-flap, it isdesirable to use an adhesive substance, such as glue, that will berevived by hot moist vapor, since such vapor is more satisfactory thanany other treating medium with which to temper the grain surface of abreast-flap. Accordingly, the apparatus illustrated herein provides forsupplying hot moist vapor to the grain surface of a breast-flap and tothe complemental attaching faces of the breast-flap and the heel.Preferably, and as herein illustrated, the vapor for these two purposesis emitted from individual nozzles simultaneously, the nozzles beingarranged to cause the jets to converge upwardly under the shank portionof a shoe supported in position for treatment. It is to be understood,however, that the invention is not limited to the use of the sameconditioning medium for both purposes since it would be entirelyconsistent with the principles of the invention to supply one kind ofconditioning fluid for tempering the grain surface ofthe breast-flap andanother kind of fluid for reviving-the tacky condition of the adhesivesubstance.

Referring to the accompanying drawing,

Fig. 1 is a side elevation, partly in section, of a conditioningapparatus embodying the present invention, the View omitting adetachable plate that forms one of the upright walls of the chamber inwhich the conditioning fluid is emitted;

Fig. 2 is a top plan view of the apparatus shown in Fig. 1 with theaddition of the detachable plate omitted from Fig. 1; and

Fig. 3 is an elevation of the interiorsurface of the upper portion ofthe detachable plate.

A hollow aluminum structure comprising a member 10 and a detachablefront wall or plate 12 is held assembled by clamping screws 14 and-isprovided with anchoring members 16 and 18 (Fig. 2) by which it may befastened to a convenient support. The members 10 and 12, when assembled,form a chamber 20 which is open only at the top. The opening at the topof the chamber is too small to receive a shoe but it will receive thetip of an unlayed breast-flap 22 hanging from the shank 24 of aLouis-heeled shoe placed as shown in Fig. 1. The detachable wall 12confronts a rear wall 26, these two walls being spaced apart a distanceslightly greater than the widthof the waist portion of a LOLllS-hGlGdshoe, their upper margins projecting above the two upright connectingwalls 28 and 30 to provide a channel for the reception of the shankportion and the heel of a shoe. The upper edge of the wall 26 isindicated by the line 32 in Fig. 1, while the corresponding upper edgeof the wall 12 is preferably provided with a strip 34 of soft flexiblematerial, such as rubber. Viewed in elevation, the edge 32 and the strip34 conform approximately to the longitudinal curvature of the arch of aLouis-heeled shoe (see Fig. 1). Moreover, the inner edge 36 of the strip34 (see Fig. 2) is preferably shaped to conform in general to the planconfiguration of the shank portion of a shoe so that it will lie incontiguous relation to the body of the shoe just above thecrease betweenthe upper and the sole. Thus, the upperport-ions of the walls12 and 26will be so close to the waist or shank portion of a shoe as to cooperatewith the shoe to restrict the escapeof vapor from the opening at the topof the chamber 20.

, Asshown in Fig. 1, the upperedge of the wall 28 and the upper edge ofthe opposite wall 30 are arranged to provide platforms substantially ata common level for the ball portion and the heel, respectively, of ashoe, the heel-supporting platform including a flat horizontal flange,38. A horizontally adjustable abutment is'arranged over the flange 38 toengage the back of a heel. This abutment comprises a metallic block 40and an insert 42 of relatively soft material, such as felt, the block 40being provided with a groove in which the element 42 is maintainedfrictionally or by an adhesive. A screw-threaded stem 44 projects fromthe block 40 through a horizontal slot '46 in the upwardly projectingportion of the wall 26 and is provided with a thumb-nut 48 by which theabutment may be clamped at any desired position. Preferably, thisabutment will be adjusted to locate the breast-face of a heel in flushrelation to the inner face of the wall 30.

A pipe 50 for supplying steam or hot moist vapor extends through therear wall 26 of the hollow structure 10 and is preferably provided withtwo branches or emission nozzles 52 and 54, the portion connecting thenozzles being inclined and having a downwardly projecting nozzle 56 fordraining the water of condensation so that vapor only will be sprayed onthe work. The nozzle 56 projects into acup or cavity 58 formed in thebottom wall 60 of the hollow structure 10. Vhen this cup is filled withwater of condensation it seals the nozzle 56 against the escape of steamor vapor at that point. As the Water of condensation overflows the cup58, it flows into a drain-pipe 62, the bottom wall 60 being inclined tocause the overflow to gravitate toward the drain-pipe.

Any suitable or preferred means may be provided to supply steam or hotmoist vapor throughthe pipe 50 but we preferan apparatus that willgenerate such vapor at a pres sure only slightly greater than that ofthe atmosphere because it is not desirable to subject the work toexcessive heat or to wet it more than enough to temper the breast-flap22 and to revive the tacky condition of the adhesive substance. v

The nozzles 52 and 54 are arranged to emit upwardly converging jets ofsteam or vapor, the jet emitted by the nozzle 52 being directed towardthe grain surface of the breast-flap and the jet emitted by the nozzle54 being directed to play between the breast-flap and the breast-face ofthe heel. V

To insure sufiicient space in which this jet may do its work, theapparatus is provided with a horizontal pin 64 arranged to maintain thebreast-flap away from the heel as shown in Fig. 1. This pin ispreferably mounted so that it may be adjusted both horizontally andvertically'according to the requirements of the articles of workpresented for treatment. Accordingly, the pin is, fastened to a plate 66from which a screw-threaded stem 68 projects through a vertical slot70'formed in the rear wall 26. The stem 68 is provided with a thumb-nut72 by which the plate 66 may be clamped against the wall 26, the slot 70providing for vertical adjustment of the pin 64 while horizontaladjustment of the pin may be effected by turning the device about theaxis of thestem 68. I

When a shoe stands. on theapparatus as shown in Fig.1, the breast-flap22 and the heel ar e masked by the upwardly projecting margins of thewalls 12 and 26, the steam or vapor from the chamber 20being-therebymaintained for a considerable time in the vicinity of the elements to betreated thereby. It is desirable, however, that the user may observewhether the pin 64 functions as intended, to maintain the breast-flapaway from the heel. For this reason, the detachable Wall 12 ispreferably provided with an insert 74 of transparent material such asglass, the location of which is in register with the breast-flap and thepin 64. VVhen a breastflap is correctly engaged with the pin 64, it ismaintained between the lines of convergence of the jets issuing from thenozzles 52 and 54s, the two ets being thereby caused to impinge,respectively, against the opposite faces of the breast-flap.

The escape of steam or vapor from the chamber 20 is so greatly retardedby the overlying shank portion of the shoe that it accumulates in thevicinity of the breast-flap 22 and is evenly distributed over thesurfaces that require treatment, the breast-flap, more than any otherpart of the shoe, being subjected to the influence of the vapor not onlybecause of its position between the converging jets of vapor but alsobecause it hangs in the opening at the top of the chamber 20. Therelative positions of the nozzles 52 and 54: may be varied according tothe characteristics of the work in the particular factory in which theapparatus is used. Moreover, these nozzles are preferably made of copperpiping or other ductile metal capable of being easily bent as may berequired to regulate the disposition of the jets emitted from them.

Having thus described our invention, what We claim as new and desire tosecure by Letters Patent of the United States is:

1. A conditioning apparatus comprising means constructed and arranged tosupport a Louis-heeled shoe, means arranged to maintain an unlayedbreast-flap thereof away from the heel, and means arranged to spray aconditioning fluid on the breast of the heel.

2. A conditioning apparatus comprising means constructed and arranged tosupport a Louis-heeled shoe, means arranged to maintain an unlayedbreast-flap thereof away from the heel, and means arranged to spray aconditioning fluid on the attaching face of the breast-flap.

3. A conditioning apparatus comprising means constructed and arranged tosupport a Louis-heeled shoe, means arranged to maintain an unlayedbreast-flap thereof away from the heel, and means arranged to spray aconditioning fluid on both faces of the breast-flap simultaneously.

4. A conditioning apparatus comprising means constructed and arranged tosuppor Louis-heeled shoe, means arranged to main tain an unlayedbreast-flap thereof away from the heel, and means by which individualjets of conditioning fluid are sprayed simultaneously on the breast ofthe heel and on one face of the breast-flap.

5. A conditioning apparatus comprising means constructed and arranged tosupport a Louis-heeled shoe, means arranged to maintain an unlayedbreast-flap thereof away from the heel, and means by which individualjets of conditioning fluid are sprayed simultaneously on opposite facesof the breast-flap.

6. A conditioning apparatus comprising means constructed and arranged tosupport a Louis-heeled shoe so that an unlayed breastfiap thereof mayhang without being supported otherwise than by the shoe, and meansarranged to supply a conditioning fluid to the attaching face of thebreast flap.

7. A conditioning apparatus comprising means constructedand arranged tosupport a Louis-heeled shoe so that an unlayed breastflap thereof mayhang without being sup ported otherwise than by the shoe, and meansarranged to supply a conditioning fluid to the breast of the heel.

8. A conditioning apparatus comprising means constructed and arranged tosupport a Louis-heeled shoe so that an unlayed breastflap thereof mayhang without being supported otherwise than by the shoe, and meansarranged to supply a conditioning fluid to the attaching face of thebreast-flap and to the breast of the heel.

9. A conditioning apparatus comprising means constructed and arranged tosupport a Louis-heeled shoe so that an unlayed breastflap thereof mayhang without being supported otherwise than by the shoe, means arrangedto maintain the breast-flap away from the heel, and means arranged tosupply a conditioning fluid to the attaching face of the breast-flap.

10. A conditioning apparatus comprising means forming a chamber havingan opening at the top, two portions of said means at opposite sides ofsaid opening having worksupporting surfaces at the level of said opening so arranged that the ball portion and the heel of a Louis-heeledshoe may stand on them while an unlayed breast-flap hanging from theshoe projects through said opening and into said chamber, and means bywhich hot moist vapor is supplied to said chamber.

11. A conditioning apparatus comprising means forming a chamber open atthe top to receive a portion of an unlayed breast-flap hanging from aLouis-heeled shoe, means arranged to support a shoe over said chamber,means by which hot moist vapor is supplied to said chamber, and meansarranged to maintain the breast-flap away from the heel.

12. A conditioning apparatus comprising means forming a chamber havingan opening at the top, two portions of said means at opposite sides ofsaid opening having work-supporting surfaces at the level of saidopening so arranged that the ball portion and the heel of a Louis-heeledshoe may stand on them while a portion of an unlayed breastflap hangingfrom the shoe projects through said opening and into said chamber, meansby which hot moist vapor is supplied to said chamber, and confrontingmembers spaced apart and arranged to cooperate with the shank portion ofa shoe standing on said surfaces torestrict the escape of vapor from thevicinity of the breast-flap.

13. A conditioning apparatus-comprising a walled vapor-confining chamberopen at the top to receive a portion of. an unlayed breast-flap hangingfrom a Louis-heeled shoe, two opposite walls forming "the opening at thetop of said chamber being platforms respectively for the heel and theball portion of a shoe, and means by which hot moist vapor is suppliedto said chamber.

14. A conditioning apparatus comprising means forming a chamber havingan opening at the top, two opposite walls forming said opening beingarranged to function'as platforms respectively for supporting the heeland the ball portion of a shoe having an attached heel, means by whichhot moist vapor is supplied to said chamber, and two confrontingelements spaced apart and arranged above the levels of saidshoe-supporting platforms to extend'along and adjacent to the oppositesides of the shank-portion of the shoe whereby a shoe standing'on saidplatforms is rendered effective to restrict the escape of vapor fromsaidchamber.

15. A conditioning apparatus comprising means forming a chamber open atthe top to receive a portion of an unlayed breast-flap hanging from aLouis-heeled shoe, two opposite walls forming the opening at the top ofsaid chamber being arranged to provide platforms respectively for theheeland the ball portion of a shoe, means by which hot moist vapor issupplied to said chamber, and horizontally adjustable means arrangedtobe engaged by the back of a heel to locate the breastof the heeladjacent to the rim of the opening at the top of said chamber.

16. A conditioning apparatus comprising two supporting elements spacedapart and arranged to support a Louis-heeled shoe by engagingrespectively the heel and the ball portion thereof,'means by which twoupwardly converging jets of treating fluid are emitted under the shankportion of a shoe so supported, and means arranged to maintain anunlayed breast-flap of the shoerbetween the lines of convergence of-saidjets.

17. A conditioning apparatus comprising means arranged-to support aLouis-heeled shoe in a certain position for treatment, means "arrangedto maintain an unlayed breast-flap thereof away from the breast of theheel, means by which hot moist vapor is supplied to the grain surface ofthe breastflap, and means by which an individual supply of treatingfluid is applied to the complemental attaching faces of the breast-flapand the heel.

18. A conditioning apparatus comprising a hollow structure open at thetop and having two'upwardly projecting and confronting walls formed andarranged to mask the shank portion of a Louis-heeled shoe stand- ,ingbetween them, means by which an unnames to this specification. I GEORGEHAZELTON. THOMAS BAGGOTT CLARKE.

